Automatically-operated musical instrument.



Patented Apr. I, i902.

u H. E. sHAnPs. gt4filmiunilxTlcALLY OPI-:RATED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

(Application led Ang'. 26, 1901.\ (No Model.)

i ATTORNZ UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIQE.

HERBERT E. SHARPS, OF FAIRFIELD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO OLIVERy TURNEY, OF FAIRFIELD, CONNECTICUT.

AUTOMATlCALLY-OPERATED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTD STEEGIFSLATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 696,762, dated April l, 1902.

"implication filed August 26, 1901, Serial No. 73,295. (No model.)

T all 'lc/tom it may concern: the sound and which com municate with the Be it known that I, HERBERT E. SHAR'PS, a exhaust-chamber by means of the passage S citizen of the United States, residing at Fairand the auxiliary chamber l in the body 5, lield, in the county of Fairiield and State of upon which latter the pneumatic-chambers Connecticut, have invented certain new and are'inounted. 55

useful Improvements inAutomatically-Oper- G is a passage cut through the roof 7 of the ated Musical Instruments; and I do hereby auxiliary chamber e, which roof is acontinudeclare the following to be a full, clear, and ation of the fioorof the pneuinatic-chainbers, exact description of the invention, such as which passage establishes a communication 1o will enable others skilled in the art to which between said chamber and the outside air. 6o

it appertains to make and use the same. Leading from the bottom of the exhaust- My invention relates to certain new and chamber are ducts 8, whose inner mouths are useful improvements in automatically-operwidened, as shown at 9, and across whose ated musical instruments, but more particuouter mouths passes the paper l0, having cut i5 larly rei'ers to the `prinfiary valves for autotherein the sound-controlling characters. 65 matic pianos or organs. Secured across the mouths 9, so as to com- The object of my invention is to alord pletely close the latter, are flexible diameans for delicately adjusting the reliefphragms, one ot' which is shown at ll, while ports which lead into the exhaust-chamber, secured upon these diaphragms are disks, one

2o so that the equilibrium may be restored beof which is shown at l2, said diaphragms and 7o tween said chamber and the air-supplyducts disks constituting the primary pneumatics. when the imperforate portion of the perfo- Secured to these several disks are verticallyrated music-sheet closes said air-ducts,wheredisposed valve-stems, one of which is shown bythe primary pneumatic and primary valve at 13, the upper extremities of said stems bemaybe allowed to dropin order to closecoming supported and guided within suitable 75 munication between the exhaust -chamber plates le, secured across the passages 6. andthe pneumatic-chamber. ln other words, l5 is one ct the primary valves, which is the object of myinvcntionis to provide novel secured to the stem l, and when the diameans forequalizing the pressure on opposite phragms are extended and restored to nor- 3o sides of the primary pneumatic at predetermal position these primary valves will oper- 8o mined times byexhausting the airtoan equal ate in the usual manner. degree on both sides thereof. The various instrumentalities and parts A further object of the present invention above described are as to their construction is the provision of means for governing the and operation well known in automaticallyamount of atmosphere admitted into contact operated musical instruments that have here- 85 with the primary pneumatic, consisting in a tofore been constructed, and I will now call duct communicating directly from the airattention to certain defects in this construcsupply duct to the exhaustchamber and tion and also to the means which I employ to means for controlling the effective caliber of overcome these defects.

4o said communicating duct. In the operation of the parts constructed 9o In the accompanying drawings,which form as above described the exhausting oli' the air a part of this application, Figure l is a detail from the chamberl will cause the diaphragms broken plan of a series of three of the mechllto swell upwardly,owing to the atmospheric anisms shown at Fig. 2, while Fig. 2 is a secpressure beneath them through the ducts S,

tion at the line a; at of Fig. l. which ducts are constantly being opened to 95 Similar numbers ol' reference denote like the outside air by their registration with the parts in both iigures of the drawings. sound-producing characters cut in the paper l is the exhaust chamber of the instruwhich moves across the mouths of these ducts. ment, and 2 represents the pneumatic-cham- The primary valves cannot drop, so as to close bcrs,wl1ich control the devices for producing communication between the eXhaust-chamroo ber and the air-chamber 4, until these diaphragms are restored to their normal or horizontal position.

In my present improvement I provide comparatively small exhaust-ducts 16, which establish communication betweenthe exhaustchamber and the Various ducts y8, and through the outer wall which incloses these ducts 8 I drive small screws 17, which extend across these ducts 8, the inner ends of these screws projecting within the exhaust-ducts 16, whereby the elfective caliber of said ducts V16 may be regulated, and inasmuch as said ducts 16 communicate directly with the airsupply ducts 8 the amount of atmosphere admitted below diaphragms 11 may be regulated. By adjusting these screws so that their inner ends are very close to the mouths of the ducts 16 a very small amount of air will pass into the exhaust-chamber from the ducts 8, and by withdrawing these screws still farther from these ducts 16 the amount of air which will pass into the exhaust-chamber will be increased, and thus it will be seen thatthe exhaustion of air to the exhaust-chamber may be regulated with the greatest nicety. y

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is'- l.. In a pneu matcally-operated musical instrument, the combination with an exhaustchamber and diaphragms in the bottom of4 /ing between said exhaust-chamber and said air-supply ducts, and screws extending across the air-supply ducts, designed to close said` exhausts-ducts for regulating the eective caliber thereof, and whereby the supply of vvv, u vair beneath said diaphragms may be controlled, substantially as described.

2. In a pneumatically-.operated musical instrument, the combination with an exhaustchamber and diaphragms in the bottom of said chamber which control the operation of the primary valve mechanism, of air-supply ducts whose lower mouths are beneath said diaphragms, and whose upper extremities are beneath the paper containing the sound-producing characters, exhaustducts between said exhaust-chamber and said air-supply ducts, and screws passed through the walls of said air-supply ducts and across the same so as to register with the mouths of said exhaust-ducts, wherebya portion of each of said air-supply ducts is designed to serve as an exhaust-duct at predetermined times,- substantially as described.

3. In a pneumatically-operated musical instrument, the combination with an exhaustchamber and diaphragms in the bottom of said chamber which control the operation of the primary valve mechanism, of air-supply ducts whose lower mouths are beneath said diaphragme, and whose upper extremities are cating with said exhaust-chamber and ai supply ducts, and means traversing said airsupplyducts for controlling the eective caliber of said exhaust-ducts, whereby the portions of said air-supply ducts beneath said controlling means is designed at times to serve F. W. SMITH, Jr., M. T. LONGDEN. 

